Therapeutically active phenylalkane derivatives

ABSTRACT

2-(4&#39;&#39;-CHLORO-4-BIPHENYL)PROPIONIC ACID POSSESSING VALUABLE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY. IT ALSO EXHIBITS ANALGESIC AND ANTIPYRETIC PROPERTIES.

United States Patent fice 3,784,705 Patented Jan. 8, 1974 3,784,705 THERAPEUTICALLY ACTIVE PHENYLALKANE DERIVATIVES Stewart Sanders Adams, Bernard John Armitage, and John Stuart Nicholson, Nottingham, England, and Antonio Ribera Blancafort, Madrid, Spain, assignors to Boots Pure Drug Company Limited, Nottingham, England No Drawing. Application Dec. 15, 1969, Ser. No. 885,280,

which is a continuation-in-part of abandoned application Ser. No. 425,624, Jan. 14, 1965. Divided and this application Nov. 21, 1972, Ser. No. 308,557

Int. Cl. A61k 27/00 US. Cl. 424-317 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 2-(4-chloro-4-biphenyl)propionic acid possessing valuable anti-inflammatory activity. It also exhlbits analgesic and antipyretic properties.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 885,280, filed Dec. 15, 1969, which is, in turn, a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 425,624, filed Jan. 14, 1965, now abandoned, in which application the presently claimed compound appeared in Example 1, page 13, line 9 and in the specification at line 20, page 3.

The invention provides the novel compound 2-(4'- chloro-4-biphenylyl)propionic acid.

This compound possesses anti-inflammatory activity and is useful for the treatment of inflammatory condltions. It also possesses analgesic and autipyretic properties and is useful for the treatment of conditions of pain and pyretic conditions. It is useful for the treatment of these three conditions individually or in any combination. A particularly notable feature of the compound is its long lasting eifect, which allows a relatively constant blood level to be achieved throughout a 24-hour period, in contrast to short-acting compounds, e.g. 2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propionic acid where there are Wide fluctuations in blood levels over 24 hours.

The compound may conveniently be prepared by reacting an ester of 4-chloro-4-biphenylylacetic acid with diethyl carbonate to give a malonic acid ester, methylatmg the sodium derivative of this ester, hydrolyzing the ester, and decarboxylating the resulting acid, viz.

Na E t 4'-chloro-4-biphenylyl) -CH: C O 0 Et -l- C O (0 Et) 2 Na M 1 e (4-chloro-4-biphenylyl)-i3( C 0 0 Et) 2 The activity of the compound of the invention has been determined in experimental animals using pharmacological tests which are known to be capable of characterising compounds possessing the therapeutic properties of aspirin, namely anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activity; its long lasting effect has been confirmed by blood level experiments.

The compound of the invention may be administered in the conventional manner of aspirin or usual manner for other anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic agents, for example orally, topically, ectally or parenterally, preferably orally. The optimum dosage rate varies with the route of administration, but normally lies within the range 0.014l4.0 mg./kg., more usually between 0.357.0 mg./kg. The unit dose may vary from 1 mg. to 1000 mg. per subject per day; for oral administration the dosage rate is preferably 25-500 mg. per subject per day, optionally in divided doses.

In use, the compound of the invention is administered in conventional formulations and accordingly the invention also provides therapeutic compositions which comprise the compound of the invention in association with pharmaceutical excipients for the production of compositions for oral, topical, rectal or parenteral administration. These compositions preferably contain 0.1% by weight of the compound of the invention.

Compositions for oral administration are the preferred compositions of the invention, and these are the conventional pharmaceutical forms for such administration, such as for example tablets, capsules, lozenges, powders, efiervescent granules, syrups and aqueous and oily suspensions. The excipients used in the preparation of these compositions are the excipients of the pharmacists art. Thus in the preparation of tablets, typical excipients include disintegrating agents, e.g., maize starch and lubricating agents, e.g., magnesium stearate; in the preparation of capsules, standard gelatin capsules may be used containing the active ingredient alone or admixed :with a diluent. The liquid compositions may comprise as excipients water and sucrose to provide syrups, water, dispersing agents and suspending agents, e.g., sodium carboxymethylcellulose to provide aqueous suspensions, and a non-toxic oil, e.g., a vegetable oil such as arachis oil and a suspending agent to provide oily suspensions.

Compositions for rectal administration are the conventional pharmaceutical forms for such administration, such as for example suppositories with cocoa butter or polyethylene glycol 'bases.

Compositions for topical use are the conventional pharmaceutical forms for such application, such as ointments, creams and lotions. Ointments and creams may be water miscible or water-immiscible in character and include emulsions prepared from emulsifying Waxes and oils and those prepared from water miscible polyethylene glycols. Lotions may comprise a solution in an aliphatic alcohol with 1-4 carbon atoms which may contain a small proportion of water.

Compositions for parenteral administration are the conventional pharmaceutical forms for such administration, for example sterile suspensions in aqueous or oily media or sterile solutions in propylene glycol.

In some formulations it may be beneficial to use the compound of the invention in the form of particles of very small size, such as for example, as obtained by fluid energy milling, e.g., micronizing.

The invention further provides a method of treating inflammatory conditions, conditions of pain and pyretic conditions, individually or in any combination, which comprises administering the compound of the invention, preferably orally. Salts, esters, amides and alcohols derived from the compound of the invention may be used in place of the compound of the invention as such derivatives appear to be metabolised by the animal body and be converted in the body into the corresponding acid.

The product of the present invention may of course be employed in combination with other active anti-inflammatory agents, analgesics, and antipyretic agents, or with other drugs, as is already conventional in the art for other existing anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic materials such as aspirin.

The following non-limitative examples illustrate the invention.

3 EXAMPLE 1 Aluminium chloride (14.5 g.) in nitrobenzene (60 ml.) at 10 C. was treated with acetyl chloride (9 ml.) and 4-chlorobiphenyl (17.69 g.) with stirring. After 5 hours the mixture was decomposed with ice and hydrochloric acid. Nitrobenzene was steam distilled and the crystalline residue was collected, washed and recrystallized from ethanol to give 4-acetyl-4-chlorobiphenyl, M.P. 96- 103" C.

This ketone (17.87 g.), sulphur (4 g.) and morpholine (23 ml.) were refluxed for 7 hours, diluted with ethanol (25 ml.) and the thiomorpholide which separated was collected and washed with ethanol (50 ml.). It was hydrolysed by refluxing with 70% ethanol (140 ml.) and 50% sodium hydroxide solution for 8 hours. The alcohol was distilled, the residue was diluted with hot water, charcoaled, filtered and acidified with dilute hydrochloric acid. The solid which separated was collected, washed and recrystallized from ethyl acetate to give 4'-chloro-4-bi phenylylacetic acid, M.P. 158161 C. (Found: C, 68.15; H, 3.95. C H Clo requires C, 68.1; H, 4.5%.)

4'-chloro 4 biphenylylacetic acid (180 g.) was refiuxed overnight with ethanol (500 ml.) and concentrated sulphuric acid (50 ml.). The alcohol was distilled and the residue was diluted with water. The ester which separated was collected and recrystallized from light petroleum (B.P. 40-60 C.) to give ethyl 4-chlor0-4-biphenylylacetate, M.P. 65 C. (Found: C, 69.8; H, 5.7; Cl, 12.9. C H ClO requires C, 69.9; H, 5.5; Cl, 12.9%.)

Sodium ethoxide (from 12.9 g. of sodium) in ethanol (325 ml.) was added at 100 C., with stirring to a solution of ethyl 4-chlor0-4-biphenylylacetate (123 g.), in diethyl carbonate (710 ml.). The mixture was distilled until the still head temperature reached 124 C. and the residue was cooled to C. overnight. It was treated with glacial acetic acid (62 ml.) in Water (250 ml.), extracted with ether and the ether extracts were washed with sodium bicarbonate solution, water and then dried. The ether was evaporated and the residue was distilled, to give an oil which solidified on cooling in a solid carbon dioxide/acetone mixture. It Was recrystallized from light petroleum (B.P. 40-60" C.) to give ethyl 4-chloro-4-biphenylylmalonate, M.P. 47-49 C. (Found: C, 65.5; H, 5.5; Cl, 10.5. C H ClO requires C, 65.8; H, 5.5; Cl, 10.2%.)

Ethyl 4-chloro-4-biphenylylmalonate (34.7 g.) was added to a stirred solution of sodium ethoxide (from 2.5 g. of sodium) in ethanol (100 ml.) followed by methyl iodide (16.5 ml.). The mixture was refluxed for 2 hours, methyl iodide (10 ml.) was added and the mixture was refluxed for a further hour. The alcohol was distilled and the residue was hydrolyzed by refluxing for hours with 2.5 N sodium hydroxide solution (200 ml.) in ethanol (100 ml.). The alcohol was distilled, the aqueous residue was acidified, the precipitated malonic acid was collected and decarboxylated at 190 C. for 1 hour. The residue was crystallized from aqueous ethanol to give 2-(4'- chloro 4 biphenylyl)propionic acid, M.P. 175-176 C. (Found: C, 69.5; H, 5.1; CI, 13.8. C H ClO requires C, 69.2; H, 5.0; Cl, 13.6%.)

EXAMPLE 2 CompositionsHard gelatin capsules No. 5 hard gelatin capsules were prepared each containing the following:

The following mixture (parts by weight) was formed into tablets in conventional manner, each tablet containing 5 mg. of active ingredient:

2-(4-chloro-4-biphenylyl)propionic acid 5 Maize starch 30 Lactose 163 Stearic acid 1 Magnesium stearate 1 In a similar manner, 2-(4'-chloro-4-biphenylyl)propionic acid is incorporated into other conventional compositions and formulations, taking various conventional forms, and administered as previously described to give the desirable relief described, depending upon the physiological abnormality or condition being treated.

What is claimed is:

1. A therapeutic composition useful in treating pain, inflammation, and pyretic conditions which comprises 2- (4'-chloro-4-biphenylyl)propionic acid in association with a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient the amount of said compound present in said composition being an amount effective against at least one of said conditions.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the amount of said compound is at least 5 milligrams.

3. The composition of claim 1 wherein the amount of said compound is at least 1 milligram.

4. A method of treating inflammatory conditions which comprises administering to a subject affected with inflammation an effective anti-inflammatory amount of 2- (4-chloro-4-biphenylyl)propionic acid.

5. A method of treating conditions of pain which comprises administering to a subject suifering from pain an effective analgesic amount of 2-(4-chloro-4-biphenylyl) propionic acid.

6. A method of treating pyretic conditions which comprises administering to a subject suffering from pyrexia an effective anti-pyretic amount of 2-(4' chloro 4 biphenylyl)propionic acid.

No references cited.

STANLEY J. FRIEDMAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 2605 15 v UNITED 'S'IATES PA'IENT OFFICE CERTIFICA'IE 0F CORRECTION Patent No." 3-, 784, 705 Dated Januag 8, 1974 lnvefitofls) STEWART SANDERS ADAMS, ET AL.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatv said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

ASSIGNEE:

"Boots Pure: Drug Company Limited" should be -The Boots Company Limited---.

IN THE ABSTRACT:

"@-(4'-chloro4bipheny1)" should read 2-(4'chloro-4- biphenylyl) 3-;-

Column 1, line 49:

. "4'chloro" should b Signed sealed this 13th day of August 1.974.

(SEAL) Attest:

MCCOY M. GIBSON"; JR. c. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

